All posts tagged Seth MacFarlane

A foul mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear isn’t turning out to be the franchise its backers had hoped.

“Ted 2” opened to $33 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to an estimate from its distributor, Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures.

The original “Ted,” which stars Mark Wahlberg as the best friend of a talking teddy bear voiced by director Seth MacFarlane, opened to $54.4 million in 2012 and was No. 1 at the box office.

But “Ted 2” came in No. 3. First place went to Universal’s own “Jurassic World,” which held the top spot for the third weekend in a row, grossing $54.2 million and bringing its domestic total to an extraordinary $500.1 million. Read More »

This week at the multiplex, we’ve got a rude bear (“Ted 2,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Amanda Seyfried) and a heroic dog (“Max,” starring Thomas Haden Church and Josh Wiggins). Find out what the critics have to say on Rotten Tomatoes. Read More »

With “Ted 2” hitting theaters this Friday, Seth MacFarlane and his arsenal of familiar voices have been making the talk-show rounds of late. This made the actor-director a perfect candidate for the latest edition of the popular “Tonight Show” segment “Wheel of Impressions.”

On Monday night’s episode, MacFarlane did a frighteningly on-point impression of Liam Neeson talking about Time Warner Cable (yep, you guessed it, in the guise of Neeson’s “Taken” franchise character): Read More »

Who cares that Seth MacFarlane can do a spot-on Sinatra (watch below) and has released two albums crooning classic big-band standards? When the “Ted 2” director/star showed up on Britain’s “The Graham Norton Show” recently, it was all about those spotlight hogs Peter and Stewie Griffin.

Appearing alongside “Ted 2″ co-star Mark Wahlberg and songstress Cyndi Lauper, the “Family Guy” creator was persuaded to sing a couple of famous Lauper tunes as two of his iconic animated characters. Read More »

“Blunt Talk,” a half-hour scripted comedy series created by Jonathan Ames set to air this summer on Starz, will premiere its first-look teaser tomorrow night during the “Black Sails” finale. But for those of you who can’t wait until then, the clip is now available online.

The Seth MacFarlane-executive-produced series stars Patrick Stewart (who will also serve as producer) as Walter Blunt, a British-born, L.A.-based journalist intent on conquering the world of American cable news. But as the teaser shows us, to say Blunt has a short fuse would be a tremendous understatement. Read More »

One of the biggest singles of 2015 so far has been Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” which features Bruno Mars’s smooth vocals over a ’70s-style funk beat. If you’re sick of that version, but not necessarily wanting to give up the idea of “uptown funk” being your jam, check out this version from YouTube wiz Mikey Bolts. Here, he sings the song using masterful impressions of numerous “Family Guy” characters like Peter Griffin, Stewie, Brian the Dog, and Joe Swanson. But Bolts’s cartoon voices also tap into “King of the Hill” and “Futurama,” giving the song a wide swath of Fox Sunday night programming, past and present.

In the new trailer for Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted 2,” the titular teddy bear has tied the knot and is looking to start a family. But there’s a hiccup: Bears aren’t recognized as humans and thus prohibited from becoming parents, even if it is via a sperm donor. Outrage!

Seth MacFarlane is lending a helping hand to the Kickstarter campaign for “Reading Rainbow.”

“Over the next five remaining days of the campaign, Seth has agreed to match dollar for dollar every pledge made up to $1 million. It’s going to give us the ability to give the “Reading Rainbow” product away to many more classrooms in need. This is huge,” Levar Burton, who is leading the online campaign, announced in a Kickstarter video.

Burton initially launched the fundraising campaign with a goal of $1 million. The initiative surpassed the goal in a day. The additional funds are expected to go toward offering “Reading Rainbow” to more classrooms and on additional platforms. Read More »

This week at the multiplex, we’ve got a legendary villainess (“Maleficent,” starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning) and some silly cowpokes (“A Million Ways to Die in the West,” starring Seth MacFarlane and Charlize Theron). Find out what the critics have to say on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Maleficent”

In the past few years, audiences have been treated to a tough-as-nails Snow White, an emotionally complex Snow Queen, and, ahem, “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.” “Maleficent” offers a more sympathetic take on the evil fairy queen from “Sleeping Beauty,” but critics say that an outstanding performance from Angelina Jolie and some striking visuals can’t redeem the movie’s slack narrative and uncertain tone. Read More »

Albert stiffened and regarded his opponent. Charlie Blanche and Albert Stark could not have been more contrasting in their deportment: Blanche was a grizzled, weathered-looking mass of aggression, who looked as though he hadn’t smiled since the days of Lewis and Clark. He glared at Albert with an expression that seemed to say, I want to shoot you in the — with a bullet made of cancer.

Albert cleared his throat. “So . . . I guess high noon to you means 12:15?”

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.